Published: January 16, 2008 04:26 pm            

In Your View — 01/17/08

Advice to people: Lock up wallets

The ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes walked the streets of Athens in daytime carrying a lantern. When asked what he was doing, he replied that he was searching for an honest man.

Diogenes arise! Come here and walk the streets of our cities with a lantern in daytime and attempt to find an honest, unbiased newsman.

Should he come as a younger man, he would probably be eligible for Social Security benefits before he could consummate his quest. The liberal, left-wing news media is well into their 2008 rerun of their 1992 mission to elect a liberal cut-and-run Democrat to the White House.

They have begun to accentuate the negative and ignore or bury the positive as they did in 1992 concerning the economy. They denigrated the war in Iraq until the surge worked and now have switched to the economy with their subtle misleading reporting.

Steve Beshear was sworn in and immediately started talking about a shortfall in revenue so we had better get ready for tax increase attempts and the casino endeavor. There was much ado about the canceling of some Fletcher salary increases to save money, but the reporters failed to notice the cost of Beshear’s creation of a new labor secretary bureaucracy to suck up to his labor union supporters.

They did note that one of the $10,000 contributors to his inauguration party was an owner of casinos in several states. Should the casino legislation become law, wonder who would be first in line to get a license or will they be presented without regard to the party affiliation of the recipients?

My advice to Kentuckians is lock up your wallets for we will be facing tax increases if they can be passed in Frankfort.

Robert G. Brewer, Vanceburg



Retired teachers active volunteers

The Kentucky Retired Teachers Association was organized in 1957. It is the only organization in the state that has as its main purpose to look out for the welfare of retired educators. .The biennial legislative program is aimed at soliciting support for and commitment to the association’s priorities.

KRTA President Patsy Young said KRTA members shine brightly in the area of community service. No other group contributes more hours in more areas than retired educators. In hospitals, nursing homes and jails, retirees offer compassion and are making a difference.

Religious leaders are thrilled when a teacher retires; that simply means more time for teaching, driving the church van, answering the phone or directing the choir.

Community leaders ask retirees to help with blood drives, charitable causes from Relay for Life to Big Brothers Big Sisters to CASA. Volunteer coordinators at schools still have the phone numbers and often call to ask for help, knowing that the answer will be yes. So many are caregivers of parents and nurturing baby-sitters for those precious grandchildren.

Many of our local associations participate in the AARP's National Day of Service and join others all across the nation focusing on giving a day helping others. Each year we ask that members report the number of hours they volunteer. Only a small percentage complete that report and submit it to us. This year members reported 551,000 hours. The estimated value of this volunteer service is $10,357,680.

What a difference retired teachers make in their communities!

Beverly Tomlin, President, Boyd County Retired Teachers Association



3 seminars offered for area businesses

Three free seminars are being offered by the Morehead State University/Ashland Small Business Development Center and the Ashland Alliance.

“Stress & Time Management for Business Professionals” will be from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 29; “Self-Esteem Building & Assertiveness Training for Business Professionals” will be from 1:30 to 330 p.m., Jan 29; “AAA Customer Service Training” will be from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27.

All workshops will be at the Jesse Stuart Foundation in the old post office at the corner of 17th Street and Winchester Avenue in downtown Ashland. These events are open to the public. Seating is limited, so pre-registration is required. Call the SBDC office at (606) 329-8011 or register on-line at kysbdc.ecenterdirect.com

Kim Jenkins, Director, Ashland

        

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